The Summer of Shambles

Ebony McKenna

15-year-old Ondine is struggling to fit in at Psychic Summercamp and doubts she possesses any of her family’s magical abilities. She resolves to leave, determined to follow her own path and be a normal teenager. Whatever normal is in a place like Brugel.

On the way home Ondine is shocked when her pet ferret Shambles starts talking – in a cheeky Scottish accent no less! He is in fact a young man trapped in a witch’s curse. When he briefly transforms into his human self, Ondine is smitten. If only she can break the spell for good, Shambles can be handsomely human on a full-time basis.

During the summer, these two misfits uncover a plot to assassinate a member of the royal family and discover a secret treasure that has remained hidden for decades. This attracts the attention of the arrogant Lord Vincent, and Ondine can’t help being drawn in by his bad-boy charm.

With so many demands on Ondine’s attentions – and affections – normal has never seemed so far away.

The Summer of Shambles is the first in the four-part ONDINE series. Fans of The Princess Bride or the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series will love this delightfully quirky fairytale.

Before I can mention anything else, I have to say that this book has a very strong voice. It's strength was actually jarring for me when I first began to read, but it soon became one of my favourite things about the book.The Summer of Shambles is a fantasy book in the guise of a contemporary novel (well sort of contemporary as it was written to take place in contemporary pre-internet) It takes place in an imaginary Eastern European country called Brugel. Never heard of it? That's okay, because there are footnotes to help keep you up to speed. This country boosts a high population of psychics and even has a psychic summer camp, which is where Ondine, our main character has been sent, despite the fact she has no psychic skills to think of and would really rather go home. Thus our story upons up with her doing just that, along with the ferret that had decided to befriend her while she was there.Then of course as she is heading home the ferret, in a very strong Scottish brogue, suddenly starts talking to her.I think that if I had read this book when I was younger (maybe around Middle School) it would have been one of my favourite books. It's got a quirkiness to it that I really like and the voice and style of the book would have really appealed to me at that age. There is a lot of suspension of reality that I sometimes had issue with as well that I think younger me would have had absolutely no trouble with. (Oh man, that makes me feel old suddenly).The characters are very strong in their portrayals. You won't be mistaking one character for another. The plot is simple but interesting, none-the-less. And the ending does well to open it up for the rest of the books in the series, I believe.The most interesting and unique thing in The Summer of Shambles however, is how Ebony McKenna deals with exposition. Due to the voice of the book and the setting. This book could have been weighed down by pages of exposition. Instead, McKenna, footnotes the book with hilarious explanations or further tidbits about characters. I always looked forward to reading them at the end of each chapter and in a material copy of the book, I'm sure there are some readers constantly flipping back and forth to read them as they hit them.To sum it up, I really enjoyed reading this book, and will probably read it again (and the sequels). The world is unique, the portrayal simple, but enjoyable. The characters strong and the voice of the book is entertaining. Try not to let logic cloud your reading experience too much though.

4 Bookmarks

||*|| Giveaway ||*||

For about a month I was completely without internet, without any way to post reviews or really anything else. Today I finally was able to get it installed (all the paperwork and scheduling took way longer than expected here in the land of Japan.

You should be seeing the reviews that I am in need of posting, though due to the fact that NaNoWriMo is coming up, I'll be reading a lot less this upcoming month and instead writing :D

I'm also going to Tokyo for a once and a life time performance (Sayumi Michishige, from Morning Musume '14's Graduation Concert).

Part-time Princess

Pamela DuMond

Lucy Trabbicio’s a down-on-her-luck, young, American, former biker-bar cocktail waitress desperate to find a job. Lady Elizabeth Billingsley hires Lucy to travel to Fredonia, the tiny jewel of a country in the Alps, for ten days ‘tops’ to impersonate her.

Say what? How the heck is that going to happen?

In the mother of all makeovers, Elizabeth’s people teach Lucy how to dress, walk, talk, eat, be coiffed and even get naked like a European Lady.

The goal?

To keep Crown Prince Cristoph Timmel interested in Elizabeth until she finishes her unexpected, pressing personal business in the States.

But fate intervenes… Lucy meets and is wildly attracted to sexy, bad-boy Nick on the oh-so-long flights to Fredonia. Unfortunately for Lucy—Nick and Elizabeth have a hot sexual history, which Nick wants to immediately resume.

Prince Cristoph proposes marriage. What's an imposter girl to do?Elizabeth insists that she’ll make it back home in time for the wedding. Lucy accepts Cristoph’s proposal and is on the fast track to becoming a Princess but continues to fall for the wrong Prince of Fredonia—Nick. When another tiny glitch arises—someone’s trying to kill her.

The only folks helping Lucy are her wild, party hard, take-no-prisoners Ladies-in-Waiting.

When the real Lady Elizabeth decides she’s not marrying Cristoph and never returning to Fredonia, Lucy’s faced with an uncomfortable decision—continue her deception, marry the prince she’s not in love with and live a dream life albeit without Nick, her dream guy? Or tell the truth and return to poverty and oblivion?

A modern day sexy fairy tale with romance, twists and turns, LOL moments, a few tears and an empowering ending.

So I’ve been reading a lot of fantasy lately. And most of it is pretty normal fare fantasy voice wise. So when I saw this book come up I decided it was time to break my reading streak and go for something a bit... lighter.

Part-Time Princess is about a girl, Lucy, who is fired from her job (the guy was totally asking for it though) and is desperate to get another job to keep her Uncle in a nice home and keep her from living on the streets. So she turns to internet classifieds and applies for every job she thinks applies to her.

One of these jobs ends up being impersonating a Princess for a few weeks and it pays amazingly well, just what she needs. She also happens to look very similar, though her personality is quite different.

Obviously you all can see where this is going to end up. There are shenanigans a-glore.

Lucy is a great character. I loved reading her voice as she tried really hard to roll with the punches. Her job is way over her head, however, and she knows it. There is definitely a suspension of disbelief we have to put on (because these people have known Elizabeth her whole life, how is it that the only thing they notice differently about Lucy is that she’s curvier, come on!) but I happily suspended it and enjoyed the story.

The romance was done really well for this kind of story. Often I have trouble reading stories like this because I can’t stand the second-hand embarrassment or the way everyone is BETRAYED, but there were some clever leavings done by the main love interest that made it feel less weird in the end and well... I won't spoil it for you.

I enjoyed the tense feeling of anxiety as Lucy’s stay grew longer and longer and then on top of that trying to figure out who was trying to kill “Elizabeth”.

Overall this book was exactly what I needed. The prose is light-hearted, the story comedy-based and the characters entertaining. If you enjoy princess stories with hijinks (like Princess Diaries for example) this is one to pick up and enjoy.

The Violet Fox (The Violet Fox #1)

Clare C. Marshall

Run.That’s what instinct told me.But in order to save the secrets of my peopleand to protect my brotherI have to become the enemy.

There are two kinds of people in the land of Marlenia.

The Marlenians, who live on the surface,

and the Freetors, who are forced to live underground.

The war between them ended two hundred years ago, but the Freetors still fight for the right to live under the sun. Fifteen-year-old Kiera Driscoll embodies the Freetors’ hopes as the Violet Fox. In a violet cape and mask, she sneaks around Marlenia City stealing food and freeing her people from slavery.

Then the Elders task her with a secret mission: retrieve a stolen tome that contains the secrets of Freetor magic, something the Marlenians both fear and covet. Kiera must disguise herself as a noblewoman and infiltrate the Marlenian castle before the Freetor-hating Advisor finds out her real identity, before her brother is imprisoned because of the secrets he hides, and before she falls any more in love with the prince she’s supposed to hate.

More is happening in the castle than she realizes, and Kiera is faced with a difficult choice. Will she be loyal to her people and their fight for freedom, or will she be loyal to her heart?

.When I read The Violet Fox, it's not surprising that I found myself entranced by the world Marshall had created. World building is something that I find vital for books that delve into something more than just contemporary and especially so in Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror. Here is Marshall's advice when it comes to trying to create a world of your own.

World Building 101

Not only am I an
author/publisher, but I’m a professional editor as well. And one of
the things I notice when I’m editing (especially a new author) is
the lack of world development.

But what does this
mean?

Where you grow up
influences how you turn out. I grew up in a rural town in Nova
Scotia. When I’d visit the streets of Halifax in my teen years, I
would freak out at huge buses whizzing by. Why? Because we didn’t
have buses where I lived. It’s not that I didn’t know about
buses--it’s because I wasn’t used to being inches from them
rushing by me. It just wasn’t in my sphere of experience, so I’d
react badly. Now I’m used to it, but only because I’ve lived in
many other large cities since.

In The
Violet Fox, the people who live on the
surface of Marlenia have a lot of prejudice and hatred against the
people who live underground, because there was a big war 200 years
ago. Even though it was so long ago, this prejudice and hatred is
passed down through the generations. This means that my protagonist,
Kiera, who lives underground and steals from people who live on the
surface, was basically taught that people who live on the surface are
unfeeling, hateful bastards who would kill her people without a
second thought. Throughout the book, however, her perception changes,
because she has more experiences that change her perception.

So, how can I
improve world building for my own books?

Here are some
questions I ask myself when I’m developing worlds, and
specifically, the world of Marlenia, where The
Violet Fox and its upcoming sequel, The
Silver Spear, take place.

1) Starting wide:
what is the history of your world?

This seems like a
daunting task, but just start with one fact. Just one.

Mine was: even in
the earliest drafts of the book, the ruler of Marlenia is called the
Holy One.

Why might that be, I
wondered? It was originally just a cool title that popped into my
head! I had to come up with a reason that made sense within the
world, because there’s not a lot of religion in the world
currently. So I came up with this: Marlenia is a lapsed theocracy.
That means the society used to be heavily religious, but over the
generations, religion became less important, but remnants of that
earlier time remain, because the tradition is hard-wired.

Try it! Pick one
obscure fact about a character and ask: why?

2)Starting specific: what is the backstory
for my main character?

Sometimes you might
just have characters, and no place. So look to your character’s
childhood. How did he or she grow up? Was there an early childhood
tragedy that influenced his or her development? Is there a specific
pass time they enjoy?

Now take it wider.
If he or she had a terrible childhood, why would that be? Did they
grow up on the streets? Which streets, where? Why are they so
terrible? If they grew up in a stable household, what did his or her
parents do? Are their professions considered respectable in your
world? Did they make a lot of money? Economic standing in society
plays a big role in what we have access to, and our decisions in
life.

Then, take it wider.
Compare your character’s experiences with other potential
characters in the world. Is your character’s experience typical or
atypical in the world? Connect the dots. The idea is to keep asking
questions until you have every detail sussed out.

3) Going deeper

This is getting
beyond a 101, but if you’re developing fantasy, you need to ask
yourself why specific cities develop in the way they do. Study the
history of your own country and notice when and how towns develop.
Here in Canada, the east was developed first, and then people
migrated further west, and inland. The east was settled by Europeans
first because that’s the patch of land that was closest to them.
Some of the oldest cities in Canada are next to the water, be it
rivers or the ocean. Why? Fishing was (still is) a big industry, and
cities by the water can trade by boat with other cities accessible by
water (mutually beneficial). This is overly simplistic description,
but it should get you thinking about your fictional city’s
infrastructure, and what kind of jobs your character or your
character’s family might have.

Keep going backwards
in time, keep going deeper. And remember: the actions of just one
person can change the course of history--and change how your world
develops.

Happy
world building, and don’t forget to check out my book The
Violet Fox, and the crowdfunding
campaign for the upcoming sequel, The
Silver Spear, at
http://igg.me/at/silverspear.

About the Author

Clare C. Marshall grew up in rural Nova Scotia with very little television and dial up internet, and yet, she turned out okay. She has a combined honours degree in journalism and psychology from the University of King’s College, and is a graduate from Humber College’s Creative Book Publishing Program. She is a full-time freelance editor, book designer, and web manager. She enjoys publishing books through her publishing imprint, Faery Ink Press. When she’s not writing, she enjoys playing the fiddle and making silly noises at cats.

The Violet Fox (The Violet Fox #1)

Clare C. Marshall

Run.That’s what instinct told me.But in order to save the secrets of my peopleand to protect my brotherI have to become the enemy.

There are two kinds of people in the land of Marlenia.

The Marlenians, who live on the surface,

and the Freetors, who are forced to live underground.

The war between them ended two hundred years ago, but the Freetors still fight for the right to live under the sun. Fifteen-year-old Kiera Driscoll embodies the Freetors’ hopes as the Violet Fox. In a violet cape and mask, she sneaks around Marlenia City stealing food and freeing her people from slavery.

Then the Elders task her with a secret mission: retrieve a stolen tome that contains the secrets of Freetor magic, something the Marlenians both fear and covet. Kiera must disguise herself as a noblewoman and infiltrate the Marlenian castle before the Freetor-hating Advisor finds out her real identity, before her brother is imprisoned because of the secrets he hides, and before she falls any more in love with the prince she’s supposed to hate.

More is happening in the castle than she realizes, and Kiera is faced with a difficult choice. Will she be loyal to her people and their fight for freedom, or will she be loyal to her heart?

You look at the cover and title of The Violet Fox and the first thing you think is: is this a superhero book? You read the synopsis and you then wonder: is this a dystopia book? Then you read the book and you realize what it is: fantasy. It is a fantasy book with unique world-building, enjoyable characters and a captivating story.

Marlenia is separated into two types of people. Kiera Driscoll, our main character, is a part of the impoverished Freetors forced to live underground and steal food from above to survive. They are the losers of a civil war that had happened long ago, one sparked by the discovery of magic.

Kiera is an icon for her people. The first time she had come above to help get food she put on an outlandish outfit as a distraction and it’s stuck ever since. She became “The Violet Fox”. This is what brings her to the attention of the council who want to send her on a mission to the aboveground castle to take back something stolen from them.

I hadn’t known what to expect from The Violet Fox when I picked it up. I was intrigued by the synopsis, and have a terrible habit of being a sucker for anything with ‘fox’ in its name. When I finished reading the book I sat there for a while wondering why this book isn’t more well known. I enjoyed reading it massively. I had a hard time putting it down. I couldn’t believe how lucky I had been to have been asked to review it for a tour.

The characters are strong, the personalities well defined. The romance is far from instant which I always appreciate. The plot keeps readers on our toes as there were quite a few twists I did not expect one bit. In fact this book is really twisty and very cleverly done. They’re the kind of twists that make me want to re-read the book to see if I can catch them faster rather than ones that make me unable to pick up a book ever again.

The setting of the book is a fantasy world, focusing more on political fantasy. Other fantasy books I’m reminded of is Poison Study and Graceling, but this one is also a bit lighter maybe more like the book I reviewed a couple of weeks ago, Poison.

The ending did seem to be too drawn out, but for me personally that was the only stumble I could find.

There is just so much to comment on here. I love the fact that her father was the advisor. I was saddened by the fact that her brother was an extremist. I hadn’t put together that Erskina was the bad guy until she was violent with Kiera.

I found myself overwhelmed in a good way in how nothing was how I thought it was. I cried with her brother’s death. I celebrated the orb coming to live for Kiera. Reading this book was a journey.

To expand on my issue with the ending, however. I feel like everything could have been done in one go. The stopping of the wedding and Erskina attacking, the lull where Kiera is in the dungeons felt out of sync with the rest of the book.

If you enjoy unique and great young adult fantasy please give this book a try. The Violet Fox is a fantastic political adventure young adult fantasy. The next book seems to be more adventure, but I still wonder how they’re going to pick up the many pieces left over.

4 Bookmarks

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About
the Author

Clare C. Marshall grew up in rural Nova Scotia with very little television and dial up internet, and yet, she turned out okay. She has a combined honours degree in journalism and psychology from the University of King’s College, and is a graduate from Humber College’s Creative Book Publishing Program. She is a full-time freelance editor, book designer, and web manager. She enjoys publishing books through her publishing imprint, Faery Ink Press. When she’s not writing, she enjoys playing the fiddle and making silly noises at cats.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Queen of Someday

Sherry D. Ficklin

ARC Disclaimer: I was not paid in any way by the publishers to review this book favourably. The review is my own honest opinion (Whether or not it is agreed with).

Publisher: Clean Teen PublishingPublished Date: October 7th 2014

Pages: 262

Genre: Historical, Political, Young Adult

ONE GIRL WILL BRING AN EMPIRE TO ITS KNEES...

Before she can become the greatest empress in history, fifteen-year-old Sophie will have to survive her social-climbing mother’s quest to put her on the throne of Russia—at any cost.

Imperial Court holds dangers like nothing Sophie has ever faced before. In the heart of St. Petersburg, surviving means navigating the political, romantic, and religious demands of the bitter Empress Elizabeth and her handsome, but sadistic nephew, Peter. Determined to save her impoverished family—and herself—Sophie vows to do whatever is necessary to thrive in her new surroundings. But an attempt on her life and an unexpected attraction threatens to derail her plans.

Alone in a new and dangerous world, learning who to trust and who to charm may mean the difference between becoming queen and being sent home in shame to marry her lecherous uncle. With traitors and murderers lurking around every corner, her very life hangs in the balance. Betrothed to one man but falling in love with another, Sophie will need to decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice in order to become the empress she is destined to be.

In a battle for the soul of a nation, will love or destiny reign supreme?

Queen of Someday starts out introducing us to Sophie, a girl who although Princess in name, has grown up living a rather non-Princess-y life out in the sticks. So not surprisingly, when given the indirect invitation to be the wife of the the Russian Empress's heir, her mother jumps at the chance to regain lost wealth and prestige. Sophie, however, is just glad to be given the opportunity to marry someone her own age rather then being shipped off to the highest bidder.

Of course, despite having the Empress fully behind her, things are not as easy as Sophie hoped they would be. The prince likes playing game and she soon realizes that their personalities are far from compatible. On top of that she meets another who stirs her into feelings and someone is trying to kill her

It’s a lot for an innocent sixteen year old girl to handle.

In the author notes of this book, Ficklin mentions that she conceived the series wondering how Catherine the Great went from innocent German girl to cold-hearted Empress, and I think that’s one of the shining parts of this book. I loved watching Sophie grow and change thanks to the people she met and the situations she faced.

I loved learning about the people around her as she learned about them and the way they were more than they seemed.

And in general I have become very attached to her as a character, which is important as she will carry the series and I want to continue reading so that I can know how she evolve next. How does she become this person from history? How will Ficklin interpret her feelings as she goes through things

My favourite character from the very beginning was Sergei. His quiet but strong support was vital for Sophie and so much more of what she needed than the dramatic affair with Alexander. She always read as 100% herself with Sergei, while Alexander made her act more like how she was before she came to the palace.

I have so much respect for the way Sophie acts in general. Especially at the end. She will make sure that Peter doesn’t win and that is the most important thing, really. I know I should worry more about the heart of the people or other things, but if she beats him at his own game, I will be immensely satisfied. Peter is too spoiled for his own good.

This is historical fiction, so if you love stories exploring how famous figures came to be, you will adore this book. It has easily become one of my favourites, bringing me back to my childhood when I read the Royal Diary books and Beware, Princess Elizabeth by Carolyn Meyer. So if you enjoyed those books as well, I urge you to pick this up

Coral & Bone

Tiffany Daune

Halen knows the sparks igniting under her fingertips are dangerous. She has spent her entire life trying to quell the tingly feelings that make her destroy things, but now that she is back in Rockaway Beach, where she watched her father drown, the flames have become impossible to tame.Halen is trying to hold on, but when she is thrust into a mysterious new world, the underwater realm of Elosia, she unravels the secrets of her past and can't help but ignite. As she explores Elosia, she realizes her life has been a lie. And when those who have deceived her come to her for help, Halen must choose—walk away or unleash the magick that could destroy them all

When you first see Coral and Bone the initial thought is that it is a mermaid book. You sit there going ‘Oh she’s going to learn that she was secretly a mermaid and it’ll be pretty basic’. That’s not where this book goes, however. Don’t get me wrong, there are mermaids in the book… in name at least, but that’s far from what our main character is and it is not a truly important part of this book in my opinion (okay somewhat important, but not really important to Halen's specific origins).

Of course I don’t want to give too much away, it’s better to read these things on your own.

Our main character, Halen, has moved around all her life with her mother. Suddenly her senses are working into overdrive and new birthmarks have appeared on her and life in general has gotten really weird.

Not surprisingly there is a strong YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE feeling to the beginning of the book. There was one or two chapters in particular that made me wonder if this book was going to fall into a lot of overdone cliches. Luckily however, after that initial dip, Coral and Bone steered more into unique and original story telling, including some fantastic plot twists.

Overall, I really enjoyed Daune’s writing for the book. There were are a few times that fell into feeling a bit off, but then another scene would grab my attention and I’d enjoy it so much I’d forget about that off feeling.

My absolutely favourite parts of this book are how it ended (which I’ll get into under my spoilers tag) and the way Daune cleverly used a cliche to hide one of her twists.

First the cliche camoflauge! Halen and Dax’s relationship seemed to be a INSTA LOVE type of relationship. She’s been drawing him and they have an instant connection and it just screams fated love that is all the rage in YA books right now. Of course, though we may suspect that he was Natalie’s ex-boyfriend, it doesn’t cross many reader’s minds to pin him as their Guardian. Especially with Tage working so hard and him being introduced as full Elosian.

Now on to my feelings on the ending. And by the ending I mean the very end. The fact that Halen has eaten Asair’s soul accidently and now they are secretly living in the same body is just awesome. It gives us so many worries for the next book and even if the author never writes another book in the series, there’s something satisfying about wondering all the things that could happen. It’s rather horror movie cyclical like.

I’d describe this book as a mix of fantasy and urban fantasy. There are some parts that are pure high fantasy and then others, when they are in the “real” world, that you can’t help but get an urban fantasy vibe from. I think it’s pretty unique and I enjoyed it as a read.